The present invention relates to an apparatus, method and system for a human individual to exercise his body in a novel manner wherein the user, when he is in the prone position, is able to move one or both of his arms, while holding the instant apparatus placed on a relatively flat surface, in all three planes of human motion simultaneously; i.e. saggital, frontal and transverse planes.
In the prior art, a plethora of devices have focused on prone position exercise devices; i.e. push-up assist devices that allowed users a greater range of vertical motion by lifting the users hands some distance off of the ground on a stable surface, while other devices made some further improvements by further allowing only arm rotation or twisting, while the user was doing a push up with the aforesaid devices, said improved device being limited by being stationary or immobile on a flat surface, and only permitting the user to twist said user's arm's while doing a push-up, positioning as disclosed in Hauser, Friedman, Mills series of patents, U.S. Pat. No. 7,238,147, U.S. Pat. No. 7,468,025, U.S. Pat. No. 7,553,267, D579503, D597153, D599417; i.e. the device itself was fixed to the floor or flat surface by the weight of the user and friction, unable to slide across the flat surface in any direction, simultaneously while the user was holding the device in his hands.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objective and requirements, the aforementioned patents did not describe an upper body exercise and physical conditioning device that is described herein by the instant application. This instant invention allows a user to move his arms in a novel manner, i.e. the user can position his hands on the device (in any manner) and then move his arms in all three planes of human motion (saggital, frontal and transverse planes), whether in one plane, or more than one plane at the same time, while the device is free to slide in an infinite number of directions while placed on the floor, and while the user is bodily in the prone position. This permits the exercise of numerous additional groups of muscle groups compared to that of the prior art. The instant invention also the exercise of, and the resultant improvement in, a user's upper body's joints ranges of motion, thereby improving the user's joint flexibility. In addition, the invention's structural geometric arrangement allows for rigid, secure and yet a simple and lightweight design. The instant application improves upon the prior art, with an apparatus, method and system that allows for user's arms to move in the saggital, frontal and transverse planes of human motion simultaneously. None of the prior art has allowed for this broad range of exercise versatility in a single device. Some of the muscle groups that may be exercised by this novel device include, but are not limited to, pectoral major, pectoral minor, abdominals, triceps, and deltoids. The instant invention further allows for arm flexion, extension, internal and external rotation, adduction and abduction. The prior art was not capable of exercising as many muscles, joints and ranges of human motion, at one time, with a single system.
Further, the devices in the prior art generally had more moving parts than the instant invention, which made them more difficult and expensive to manufacture and would increase their chances for failure. The applicant's instant invention solves all of these aforesaid problems and limitations in the prior art by fabricating the device with strong, resilient and flexible materials, including, but not limited to injection molded plastics, and using high hertz contact strength bearing configurations at the interface of stationary (base) and moving parts (spherical rolling balls one in each recess in said non-rolling base), said bearings being either friction bearings wherein the stationary base surface and/or the rolling spherical balls which move relative to one another comprise self-lubricating composite materials, or said bearings being configured as an anti-friction type wherein the sliding friction between the stationary base and the rotating ball surfaces is replaced with primarily rolling friction (although some sliding friction may exist) by placing a plurality of cylindrical or spherical rollers with axles mounted in cradles in the recesses in the stationary base and said rollers contacting with point or line contact, and rolling with spherical ball in each recess in the base. One of said solid bearing materials being fabricated of halogen-hydrocarbon-polymers. This new design is structurally simpler than the prior art, thereby making it easier to use, and substantially more simple and less costly to manufacture and maintain. Therefore, the applicant's instant invention solves these aforesaid problems and limitations. It can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a upper body exercise apparatus, method and system, which serves to exercise the largest grouping of human body muscle groups, than any other apparatus, method or system disclosed in the prior art. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.